Transcript Killer Angels Introduction

Killer Angels Introduction
Killer Angels Overview
• Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara, was
awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in
1975. It is a fictionalized account but of
the Battle of Gettysburg, but is based
entirely on primary documents--maps,
memoirs, diaries, etc.-- and therefore is
an accurate portrayal of this battle that
occurred July 1-3, 1863.
• Both Union and Confederate military
forces were organized similarly. Each side
of this conflagration was organized into
armies with nicknames, commanded by a
general—Army of the Potomac, Army of
Northern Virginia, Army of the Ohio,
Army of the Tennessee.
The Armies
At the Battle of Gettysburg, the Army of the Potomac (Union) under General George
Meade and the Army of Northern Virginia (Confederate) under General Robert E. Lee
faced each other. The following chart summarizes how the two armies were organized:
Civil War Army
Organization
Technical Vocabulary
Artillery--Cannon or other large caliber firearms; a
branch of the army armed with cannon.
Technical Vocabulary
• Artillery battery: 4-6 cannon with
six men to a cannon
• Quartermaster units: These were
units in charge of supplies.
• Engineer units: These were in
charge of construction of bridges,
trenches, etc.
Signal Corps: These units were in charge of
communications and intelligence.
Video removed
Technical Vocabulary
Bayonet--knife fitted into the muzzle end of the rifle
Technical Vocabulary
Cavalry--troops trained to fight on horseback
Technical Vocabulary
Caisson--A two-wheeled cart that carried two
ammunition chests, tools, and a spare wheel
for artillery pieces. The caisson could be
attached to a limber, which would allow both
to be pulled by a team of horses.
Technical Vocabulary
Echelon--troops formed in parallel units arranged to
the left or right of the rear unit like stair steps
Technical Vocabulary
Flank—(noun) a "flank" is the end (or side) of a military
position, also called a "wing".
(verb) "to flank" is to move around and gain
the side of an enemy position, avoiding
a frontal assault.
Technical Vocabulary
Infantry--units of army trained to fight on foot
Technical Vocabulary
Napoleon--type of cannon named for the French
emperor
Technical Vocabulary
Taps--bugle call to signal "lights out" or played at
military funerals
Video removed
Technical Vocabulary
Volley--a discharge of several missiles all at once
Army of the Potomac
•
George Meade : Commanding general of the Army
of the Potomac. He is barely mentioned in the
novel, but it is important to know that he
commanded the Union at Gettysburg. President
Lincoln had just appointed General Meade to his
post after firing General Joseph Hooker just three
days before.
•
John Buford : Head of the Union cavalry. His cavalry
are the first Union forces in Gettysburg and to
encounter Confederate forces there.
•
Winfield Hancock : A major general in command of
the II Corps. He was in command of the Union forces
that faced Pickett’s division on third day of the
battle. He was a close friend of General Lewis
Armistead, one of Pickett’s brigade commanders.
Army of the Potomac
• John Reynolds : Former commander at West
Point, now a Major General in the Union Army,
and maybe its best soldier. He has refused the
command of the Union army. He is respected
by the Confederates and, along with Buford,
one of the first Union generals on the field at
Gettysburg.
• Joshua Chamberlain : A former college
professor who took a leave of absence to enlist
in the army, he was the colonel in command of
the 20th Maine regiment which includes his
brother Tom; Something that concerns him as
the commander of the regiment. He was the
last unit on the left flank of the Union line on
Cemetery Ridge on the second day of the
battle. He was shot six times during the war.
Army of Northern Virginia
•
Robert E. Lee : Commanding general of the Army of Northern
Virginia. (Contrary to popular myth, he was not the commanding
general of the Confederate military.) Opposed to slavery, he
could not find it in himself to accept President Lincoln’s
appointment to lead the Union forces and thus fight against his
home state of Virginia. By the time of the Battle of Gettysburg,
General Lee had become a legend as a brilliant strategist and
repeatedly defeating armies much larger than his own Army of
Northern Virginia.
•
James Longstreet : Known as “Old Pete,” Longstreet was the
commanding general of Lee’s I Corps. He had replaced General
Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson (who was killed by friendly fire at
the Battle of Chancellorsville just a few months earlier) as Lee’s
most trusted aide.
•
Jeb Stuart : Commanding general of Lee’s cavalry. He was Lee’s
eyes and ears during the invasion into Pennsylvania, but leading
into the battle, his cavalry is no in communication with Lee and
this has an important impact on the Battle of Gettysburg.
Army of Northern Virginia
•
Lewis Armistead : Commanding general of one
of Pickett’s brigades. He was also a close friend
of General Winfield Hancock, commander of
the Union’s II Corps, before the war and looks
forward to reunion with his old friend.
•
George Pickett : Last in his class at West Point,
he a young , free-wheeling and dashing
commanding general of one of Longstreet’s
divisions. Held in reserve during the first two
days of battle, his division was the most rested
on the third day which gives them the order to
assault the Union lines at Cemetery Ridge.
•
Arthur Freemantle : A visiting British officer,
whose assignment was to observe the
Confederate forces in action and report back to
his superiors in London.
Order of Battle
The following diagrams present the “Order of Battle” or a visual representation of the
military organization of both armies at the Battle of Gettysburg as it relates to the novel.
Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia
Order of Battle
The following diagrams present the “Order of Battle” or a visual representation of the
military organization of both armies at the Battle of Gettysburg as it relates to the novel.
Meade’s Army of the Potomac
Maps
The book contains maps; as you read
examine the maps so that you know
the terrain and its important features
such as:
Culp’s Hill
Cemetery Hill
Emmitsburg Road
Peach Orchard
Devil’s Den
Big Round Top
Little Round Top
Wheat Field
Cemetery Ridge
Seminary Ridge